SALENA ZITO: It’s the uncertainty, stupid.

When gas prices started to rise over a year ago, Biden was quick to cast blame upon anyone and everyone else, including “gas supply companies,” Vladimir Putin, gas station operators, etc. What he was not quick to say was he felt your pain.

For his evasions, Biden was rewarded with scores of stories in the New York Times , Axios , Bloomberg and countless others echoing his blame-shifting claims, all written by people who all live far from the people and small business owners who were struggling from the impact of both. The inflation, they all insisted in unison, was transitory .

At every turn, Biden has failed to look voters in the eye and tell them he feels their pain. He spends most of the time either blaming someone else or denying that the pain exists at all. It’s all in your head.

On Thursday, hours after a new government report showed that the economy had shrunk for a second straight quarter, Biden rejected the very idea that the country was in a recession. “That doesn’t sound like recession to me,” he said. He then abruptly walked away from the podium and ignored the scores of question tossed at him by the White House press.

It may not sound like a recession to you. But have you asked anyone outside of experts, advisors and your staff what it feels like to the American people?

Curiously, when Biden was a young senator, he had a much better comms team than he does as president: